The Rude Pundit was all primed and ready to pound out another post of existential despair masked as cynical hope. He was going to attack people who hypocritically vote for Romney despite benefiting from the policies of Barack Obama (like the friend without health insurance whose pregnant wife was treated like a queen because of the Affordable Care Act). He was going to go after writers on the left and right who said, essentially, "Don't worry. No matter who wins, nothing much will change" as a louche argument born of bourgeois privilege and a stable job.

But before writing it down and posting it here, the Rude Pundit decided to go to vote.

He had had some doubt that his polling place would even be available since there are still areas here in Sandyland that are without power. But it was up and running on a generator, with no heat. And everyone, from the black guy who told the Rude Pundit where his district's table was to the Hispanic woman who found his name in the Big Book o' Registered Voters to the elderly Indian dude who monitored the booth to make sure the vote went through, was kind and friendly; they were even patient with others who did not show up in the Big Book. It went as smoothly as it could have possibly gone, an idealized version of what participation in democracy should be, not the ludicrous, racist, oppressive, and childish version of things in states that went for Barack Obama that are run by Republicans. The Rude Pundit lives and votes in a working class neighborhood that is overwhelmingly non-white, and there are no problems at all because no officials from the state or county are causing them.